__Abstract__
When an individual’s kidneys fail, there are three treatment options: hemodialysis,
peritoneal dialysis or kidney transplantation. A successful kidney transplantation results in
the best patient survival and a better quality of life compared to the two other treatment
modalities. Kidney transplantation is therefore the preferred therapy for renal failure.
The first deceased donor kidney transplantation in the United States was performed
in 1950 by Lawler and colleagues on Ruth Tucker, a 44-year-old woman with polycystic
kidney disease. Although the kidney transplant was rejected ten months later because
no immunosuppressive therapy was available at the time, the intervening time allowed
Tucker’s remaining native kidney (it was an orthotopic transplantation) to recover and she
lived for another five years. At the same time in France, Küss, Hamburger, and others also
performed a number of kidney transplantations
